Hundreds Flood School Board Meeting in Support of Appeal of Court Order to End Prayer Practice

Hundreds cheered as a California school board voted on Monday on which law firm they would hire to represent them in an appeal against an atheist lawsuit that resulted in a court order that the board stop praying before meetings and speaking about Christianity in their remarks. As previously reported, in November 2014, the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) filed a 49-page lawsuit against the Chino Valley Unified School District Board of Education.

The organization took issue with the board’s practice of opening meetings with invocations, which they argued is a violation of the First Amendment in the U.S. Constitution. “The Chino Valley School Board begins each meeting with a prayer,” FFRF wrote in its legal challenge. “Indeed the meetings resemble a church service more than a school board meeting, complete with Bible readings by the board members, Bible quotations by board members, and other statements by board members promoting the Christian religion.” READ MORE